Duke Cruises in Home Meet Against Boston College Plus East Carolina Women, Marymount Men
The Duke Blue Devils opened the 2025-26 college season by welcoming ACC rival Boston College as well as the women’s team from East Carolina and men’s team from Marymount in a Friday dual meet. Duke was victorious in all four contests. The women beat BC 207-54 and ECU 202-59. The men’s 155-106 win over BC was the closest contest of the day, with a 218-43 win over Marymount.
Duke’s women opened with a win in the 200 medley relay behind the team of Ali Pfaff, Kaelyn Gridley, Heather White and Tatum Wall (1:40.62). Duke’s first individual win came from Audrey Portello in the 200 freestyle (1:51.44), with Pfaff coming through in the 100 backstroke (53.18). Pfaff picked up another first-place in the 100 free (50.17).
Gridley, the fourth-place finisher in the 200 breaststroke at last season’s NCAA Championships, began her senior season with a pair of wins in her signature stroke. She clocked 1:01.80 in the 100 breast and 2:15.12 in the 200. Fellow senior Martina Peroni was first in the 200 butterfly (2:01.84).
White was the winner of the 50 free (23.20) and 100 fly (55.33), and Kate Meyers-Labenz topped the 200 back (1:59.94). Portello won twice more in the 500 free (4:57.51) and 200 IM (2:02.48). In diving, Keira Lu was first on 3-meter (314.65). To conclude the day, the team of White, Tierney Lenahan, Pfaff and Wall swam a time of 3:22.94 to win the 400 free relay.
ECU’s Tanith Mueller finished first in the 1000 free (10:23.30) while Frida Zuniga Guzman won 1-meter diving (301.10).
It was a similar story for the Duke men with a wire-to-wire win. The 200 medley relay team of Gus Koh, Jack Smith, Justin Wong and Milo Shue touched in 1:31.04 for the win while Charlie Kulp had a big day in his Blue Devils debut. Kulp clocked 1:41.04 to win the 200 free, and he picked up first in the 500 free in 4:37.60.
Smith won the 100 breast (55.66), and Wong came in first in the 200 fly (1:52.16) and 100 fly (49.41). Shue touched first in the 50 free (20.36), followed by Raphael Wang taking first in comfortable fashion in the 200 breast (2:02.80). Duke’s Andrew Li concluded the individual slate of racing with a come-from-behind win in the 200 IM (1:51.79).
Charlie Berman was the diving star as he was first in 1-meter (310.20) and 3-meter (340.00). The team of Shue, Colin Mikulecky, Wong and Owen Waibel took first in the 400 free relay with a mark of 3:02.50.
Boston College picked up a win from Matt Cinque in the 1000 free, his time of 9:29.52 just two tenths ahead of Duke’s Anderson Kopp. Evan Tack took first in the 100 back (49.52), and Palmer Rice was the winner of the 100 free, his time of 45.84 beating Duke’s Shue by seven hundredths. Luke Amerson took first in the 200 back (1:51.23).
